Broad Reproductive Issues Need to Be Addressed

I am a psychiatrist working on both the Assertive Community Treatment Team and the Forensic Services Program of Penndel Mental Health Center in Bucks County, Pa. We work with patients with severe and persistent mental illness, mostly schizophrenia, and see them wherever they live. Even with our supports, many of our patients struggle to remain stable in the community, and many cannot obtain or lose their housing due to psychotic behaviors, inability to care for self, lack of funds, and criminal record or charges.

As I write this, it is my understanding that there are upward of 250 homeless mentally ill people in the community where I work. That’s 250 people who may not be able to care for themselves, manage their psychiatric and medical illnesses, protect themselves from predation, obtain food and clothing and a safe place to sleep, and more.

We need beds! WE NEED BEDS! On every level from locked to unlocked facilities, we need beds. The shelters are full! The wait list for community residential rehabilitation and extended acute units and long-term structured residences is months to years.

Some of our society’s most vulnerable people, who need the highest level of professional, compassionate mental and physical health care, are being denied, left to sleep in old cars in parking lots, tents in the woods, on the sidewalks, or in abandoned buildings—or a jail cell. We got it right when the focus shifted from institutionalization to patients’ rights, freedom, choices, wellness, and recovery. But we clearly failed in preparing enough welcoming beds for those who truly need more supervision. Spread the word: WE NEED MORE BEDS! ■

BONNIE WRIGHT, M.D.

Langhorne, Pa.